Operation Rice Bowl: A Lenten Tradition
Week six - United States
Holy Week brings us home to the United States for the last stop in our pilgrimage. Here in Fort Myers, FL. we meet 46-year-old Latronia Latson, who is raising her two grandchildren by herself. Still she finds time to volunteer at the St. Peter Claver Catholic Mission, which serves as a food bank for the community.
Pray — The people of Jesus’ time could tell that God was doing something new by watching the people with whom Jesus chose to eat. His table fellowship with rich and poor, with those whom society rejected and those whom society revered, was the source of both hope and scandal in his community. For the most part, others provided the itinerant teacher with his meals. The gospels tell us that women followed him and provided for him from their means. Jesus perfectly modeled God’s willingness to gift us with grace, and God’s joy in receiving the gifts we offer. The Passover table of the first Eucharist was no different. Here again, Jesus was provided for. He sat down to another person’s table with those who would die for him as well as with those whom he knew would betray him, deny him and abandon him. But he excluded no one from the meal, or from himself.
As you experience Holy Week, reflect on the people with whom you are comfortable sharing table fellowship, and on the ones with whom you are not. Ask God to expand your vision of the table to reflect Jesus’ vision, where all have the right to dine and the responsibility to ensure that no one goes hungry.
Fast — Holy Week is a time to enter deeply into prayer and fasting. This is especially true on Good Friday when we fast from the Eucharist celebration itself and immerse ourselves in the death of Jesus. The Palm Sunday procession, the Stations of the Cross, penance services and passion plays all seek to place us in the footsteps of Jesus. Hungry for life, we witness the bitter consequences of Jesus’ love. This love has a right to manifest itself. It has a responsibility for the beloved. And when faced with those who would reject it, love bears a consequence: it suffers. Sometimes the love dies. But the love, God’s love, can do nothing but rise again.
Learn — Many of Latronia Latson’s neighbors in Fort Myers struggle economically just as Latronia does. But they also take responsibility for one another. At the food bank where she works, the center’s limited hours keep some people away. So it’s understood that each person who picks up food must share it with five other families.
"My family has its own problems, but I know that if I give up, there will only be more trouble in the world," Latronia says. "By taking care of my family I help take care of my community. Through the St. Peter Claver Food Bank, people in our community have a concrete way to help each other when they are in need."
The United States is one of the wealthiest countries on the planet. But that does not mean that we have distributed our resources equally. More than 12 percent of Americans – 37 million people – live below the poverty line. But unlike many of the world’s countries, the United States has a robust civil society whose members have the right to participate in representative government, to address injustices both socially and politically and to bring our faith to bear in the public sphere. These civil rights give us the means to ensure that people’s basic human rights for adequate nutrition, shelter, work and safety are safeguarded. With these rights come the responsibility to use them. To learn more about how Catholics in the United States can act as faithful citizens, read "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Bishops of the United States." It can be found at http://www.usccb.org/faithfulcitizenship/.
Give — You and your Rice Bowl have taken quite a journey this Lent. Give it a shake and weigh its contents in your hand. Almsgiving is good Lenten work. But as in life, there is always room to do a little more. This week, as you empty yourself in response to the Holy Week stories, search your home for lost coins to drop in your Rice Bowl. Discuss with your family members how your global giving and awareness might increase in the Easter season and beyond.
